I’ve spent 25 years hunting for Nessie... and hunting I'm just starting
Monster quest could only be half-f inished, says loch watcher, but every day is a delight
WITH his eyes intently fixed on the water, he scans for every splash and ripple, often using his grandfather’s trusty Second World War binoculars. A leaf… a log… a fish… or could it be the infamous creature of the deep to which he has dedicated his life to tracking down?
Next month Steve Feltham will celebrate a quarter of a century searching for the Loch Ness Monster – a remarkable quest that has placed him firmly in the record books.
Now, in an exclusive interview with The Scottish Mail on Sunday, the 53-year-old has disclosed that he is determined to fulfil his childhood ambition of spotting Nessie – and is prepared to dedicate another 25 years to the task.
Mr Feltham, who has become known around the world as the Nessie Hunter, acknowledges that some people think his vigil is mad and a waste of time. He believes, however, that his lochside mission is about more than simply finding the legendary creature – it is all about daring to dream.
‘I get a few cynics who don’t get why I would choose to live this way but it does not affect me at all,’ he admitted. ‘People think, “What a lonely vigil he is making”, but that could not be further from the truth. And I’m not living this life for anyone’s happiness other than mine.
‘It’s not about accumulating assets, it’s about making your heart sing. If you can do that you are a rich man, I have certainly learnt that over the past 25 years. The joy it has given me is immense; I can’t believe my luck. I have the best view in the world. I also think I have learned the meaning of life.
‘I think the career of being a full-time Nessie hunter gets more fun as the years go on. I look at 25 years as a good halfway mark in trying to solve this.
‘I am willing to dedicate another 25 years. Hopefully it will only take another few weeks, but who knows?’
It was as an eager seven-yearold on a family holiday to the Highlands that Mr Feltham, originally from the South of England, first visited Loch Ness.
He watched the Loch Ness Investigation Bureau, a team of volunteers who set up a makeshift camp each summer near Urquhart Castle, mounting roundthe-clock surveillance in the hope of filming Nessie – and he was hooked. He said: ‘I remember thinking, “Grown men looking for monsters? Fantastic”.’
Armed with a very basic camera and his grandfather’s Army binoculars, he would return to the loch many times on two-week expeditions, fully expecting to solve the mystery before he had to return to school or later, work. BUT in 1991 he realised that he had to dedicate more time to his unusual pursuit and abandoned the nine-to-five ‘rat race’. Aged 28, when most of his contemporaries were settling down, he left his job as a security camera installer, gave up his home and steady girlfriend in Dorset, and moved to the banks of Loch Ness.
He said: ‘My dad was a bit surprised but my mum just turned to him and said, “I told you so”. In time, they both accepted it.’
Within days of his arrival north of the Border, his brother found him a 20-year-old former mobile library van, wood-lined and with a potbelly stove.
The converted vehicle – which failed its MOT several years ago and is now in a pub car park at Dores on the south shore of the loch – has its own postcode and council tax rating (but no hot water or toilet) and has been Mr Feltham’s home ever since. After a year patiently monitoring the loch, he spotted an unexplained ‘torpedo-quick’ disturbance in the water, but he did not have his camera to hand.
Since then, he has kept careful watch using boats, sonar and even a microlight aircraft, but the mysterious creature has never returned to view.
A trained potter, he manages to make a small living by selling handcrafted clay models of the Loch Ness Monster to tourists for £7 each.
‘I live pretty much hand to mouth – I have never been in this to make pots of money, but I have never been happier,’ he said.
‘I make little figurines and sell them from a driftwood table outside the van. It gives me enough cash to get by.
‘The area is busy with tourists for around four months a year and it tides me over until the following summer.
‘People from around the world have heard of my work and seek me out to find out more. Sometimes they show me photographs they have taken that they think
show something. I enjoy talking to them but always have one eye on the loch, just in case.’
While Mr Feltham is confident there is something in the loch, time has changed his view.
He now believes that Nessie is probably not a prehistoric plesiosaur, as was once thought, but is most likely a giant catfish of a kind first introduced to the UK by Victorians.
The Wels catfish, also called the sheatfish, can grow as long as 13ft and weigh up to a hefty 62 stone. THE monster hunter said: ‘It is known they were introduced into English lakes by the Victorians for sport. They are very long-lived and it is entirely possible they were introduced by Victorians to the loch – which would explain why the main sightings of Nessie really started in the 1930s, just as the animals were reaching maturity.
‘I think the Wels catfish is the most likely theory but I still hope it’s more exciting than that.’
Mr Feltham has become such a permanent fixture at Loch Ness that he is recognised by the Guinness Book of Records for the longest continuous monster hunting vigil at the loch.
He even became a member of Dores Community Council, a position he went on to hold for ten years.
‘When I first came here I had no clear idea how long I would need, but I thought I would see something within three years,’ he said.
‘In that time I had one sighting of something in the water that I could not explain, but I can’t say what it was.
‘The mystery is definitely not solved – it is still the world’s greatest mystery.
‘It has proven harder and slower than I thought. The loch is more than 23 miles long and, realistically, one man can only be looking at about a mile of it at any time. ‘In 25 years I would not say I have drawn definite conclusions but I have never felt like giving up,’ Mr Feltham added. ‘I just want to find one substantial piece of evidence, such as a photograph, that contributes to an answer about Nessie. ‘To see my name in the sort of books that as a child I pored over would be my ultimate dream. ‘I have converted a few hundred people over the years to follow their own dreams. ‘After meeting me or watching one of my videos, people have gone and climbed mountains, another travelled to Vietnam and wrote a book, others moved to America and one person moved to Skye to live their own dreams.’
Although Mr Feltham has not found Nessie in the past 25 years, he has found love.
Around ten years ago he met his partner Hilary, 49, on the banks of Loch Ness while she was on a trip from her home in Inverness.
But Mr Feltham admitted he had so far failed to convince her of Nessie’s existence.
‘She’s an agnostic when it comes to there being anything in Loch Ness,’ he said.
‘I have now found my better half, and soon, I hope, I will get the other half. I am an optimist – and very patient.’
The Loch Ness Monster tourism industry is said to be worth around £25 million each year to the area and has attracted some famous visitors.
Among those who have called on Mr Feltham have been Monty Python star Eric Idle and the late comedian Robin Williams, as well as Billy Connolly – and even the Chinese State Circus.